Bibi Freezes Construction?

Netanyahu and his government wanted to defuse the conflict, but the prime minister is constrained politically. While his government is in fact — contrary to frequent Western media reports — a national unity coalition between his Likud Party and the main left party, Labour, he is also dependent on the parliamentary votes of smaller right-wing parties. They would be extremely angry about a freeze on Jerusalem construction and might withdraw their support.

It is interesting to note, by the way, that Netanyahu could not have made such an understanding with the United States without the support of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who leads the coalition’s third largest party.

Netanyahu still maintains Israel’s right to build anywhere in Jerusalem, but is stopping actual construction now in order to facilitate negotiations with the PA.

The apparent move leaves three key players to decide their response.

First, will the PA in fact now go to indirect negotiations, having lost all excuses for refusing to do so?

Second, how will Israeli right-wingers react to the decision, both in terms of demonstrations and pulling out of support for the coalition? Since Netanyahu will insist that there is no formal freeze, this could undermine their efforts, while a desire for good relations with the United States and knowledge that any freeze is temporary will build Israeli popular support for Netanyahu.

And third, will the United States show reciprocal appreciation for Netanyahu’s concessions, or will Washington soon be back with more complaints and demands? The freeze has about five months left to run. If there is no real movement on negotiations — and this is unlikely — Netanyahu will want to end it. Would this lead to another conflict or would an Obama administration, perhaps better educated in PA behavior and worried about the erosion of electoral support at home, accept it?

Even given all this, no progress on peace negotiations is likely given all the problems involved. One of these is the fact that almost half the territory the PA purports to represent is the Gaza Strip, ruled by the PA’s rival, Hamas, which is totally against any peace with Israel.

Indeed, it is somewhat ironic that any return to indirect negotiations would be celebrated, since this is a step backward. After all, the PA (and its original parent body the PLO) and Israel have been holding direct talks since 1993.

I see this as an indication that Netanyahu has a weak hand to play. Obama and co. are calling the shots. Israel’s leadership has reverted to the Eastern European shtetl mentality. Keep your head low, placate those with power so their fury simmers and hope that it passes without too much loss. Don’t think it will work. Didn’t really work in Europe either.

Actually,I see this as a way for Bibi to show Barokeydoke..and the world….that whether or not any new construction proceeds in East Jerusalem is for him and Israelis to decide….not Barokeydoke or any one else…so he decides to delay breaking ground for a few months till Barokeydoke smartens up and gets the message and quits acting like a thug…then Bibi will quietly sign off on the construction permits and the point will have been made

“And third, will the United States show reciprocal appreciation for Netanyahu’s concessions, or will Washington soon be back with more complaints and demands?”

The Obama administration will continue to raise the bar higher. The president is existentially convinced that Israel is an imperialist nation victimizing the darker skinned Arabs. Obama is obsessed with race. In his heart of hearts, he will not be satisfied until Israel is obliterated. The man has a lot of unresolved issues with “white” Western societies. This was clearly obvious during the presidential campaign. Obama slimed his own white grandmother and spent twenty years sitting in the pew listening to Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s sermons.

Actually, if Bibi has called an informal halt to construction, it tells me his highest priority is having the maximum possible latitude to deal with Iran. I don’t think he expects any acknowledgments or better vibes from Obama. He’s just doing what lies within HIS power to optimize the conditions for the epic effort Israel may have to make in the next few months. One of those things is the negative preparation of not giving Obama any more excuses than absolutely necessary.

I certainly trust Bibi to not make the halt official. He knows full well that that’s a form of attrition against Israel that the Palestinian leadership could milk for decades. Once the declaration was official, reversing it would inherently be an abrupt strategic signal. Bibi knows better than to set Israel up for that.

Let me say that for anyone who wants serious, factual, common sense, and truly insightful commentary about Israel, the Arabs, and the entire the Middle East, he will go to Dr. Barry Rubin first, last, and always.
Dr. Rubin as an Israeli I am ecstatic to see your commentary appearing here and even though I get your newletter every few days I think this is an excellent venue for you to appear in.
Now to the supposed secret and unofficial Jerusalem building freeze and it’s impact, if any, on the longest, most drawn out, and least productive peace negotiations in the history of the world, those between Israel and the Palestinians.
Well, since the Israeli building in Jerusalem and the territories has never had much impact on the negotiations in the past, it is probably safe to say that this unofficial freeze won’t have much impact either.
Sure, there are those experts who think they are being clever in arguing that continued Israeli building has actually put pressure on the Palestinians to negotiate a peace agreement because Israeli building deprives the Palestinians of the land they will want for their nascent state and that without that pressure the Palestinians would never seriously negotiate in good faith.
But that assumes that the Palestinians have ever or will ever actually negotiate seriously and in good faith with the expectation of setting up their state in the pre Six Day War occupied territories. In fact, and many Palestinian leaders explicitly state this in Arabic, the Palestinians are and always have been negotiating with Israel on the basis that the final settlement being Israel’s destruction, the extermination of our Israeli Jewish citizens, and the establishment of their state in those territories and the areas where Israel used to be. Thus they couldn’t be less concerned about a few settlements here or there in the disputed territories, or a housing complex here or there in Jerusalem, because in the end they expect to get everything including Israel.
This is not just a Palestinian dream or a hope, the Palestinians really and truly see Israel as nothing more than a Crusader colony which they will wipe out just a surely as Salach a Din did to the real Crusaders centuries ago.
Thus building freeze or not, there is every liklihood that if the Israeli Palestinian negotiations even start up again, which is hardly guaranteed, they will either go exactly nowhere, just as they have for the past almost twenty years, or some small event will cause them to come to an abrupt halt again.
Unless of course, the Israeli side agrees to destroy itself for the sake of the Palestinians, an unlikely outcome with the present Israeli government, but if the Kadima Party or the Labor Party ever get back into power, even this horrific possibility would be on the table.

Ken,
Amen.
The Arabs have 1001 excuses for anything they don’t want to consider, accept or do – too much vinegar in the salad dressing will offend them to hell knows what if they need to incite, stall or just frighten in the attempt to divert attention from that which truly bugs them; in this case coming to a pacific state of co-existence with the Jews in Israel.
For too long Westerners have been projecting their cultural makeup/mentality (COGNITIVE EGOCENTRISM) onto the other expecting an equivalent response.
The negative results of this excercise includes the blame being laid at Israel’s door by the West. This could be because either the Westerners are so stupid that they cannot see the reality of the situation, or that the Westerners are stealthily aiding the grinding down of the Israelis which seems highly probable given that at every stumbling block the Arabs hit, due to their own behaviour, out come the dollars and Euros to provide more of the same.
When the West continues to ignore what the Arabs and the canon fodder Palestinians (from Ahmadjinejad through Husseini, Hamas and Abu Mazan to Zawahiri) have said with regard to Jews and Israel then one must wonder.

I would like to point out that just this morning, for what it’s worth, in response to the rumors being circulated that a secret and unofficial building freeze has been imposed in Jerusalem by Prime Minister Netanyahu, the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barakat has denied these rumors in the strongest possible terms. Mayor Barakat’s remarks have been widely publicized in all of Israel’s daily newspapers, radio and TV outlets, and Internet news services.
As an Israeli Jew, I will take him at his word and grant him the credibility he deserves until proven otherwise. In fairness I would expect the same from every other impartial observer.

Ken Besig-Thanks for posting this additional information re: PM Netanyahu halting construction in E. Jerusalem. So far the discouraging news on this has been declared “unofficial” and “rumor,” and you certainly have more information available to you on this surprising development than we have here in the US. I hope that Nir Barakat is correct. Would he put himself on the line like this if he did not have accurate information? I would not put it past Netanyahu’s critics on the Israeli left put forth a rumor such as this about construction halts to attempt to discredit him and make him look weak to his supporters in Israel and the US.

I can only hope that Mr. Barakat is telling the truth about the situation. Unfortunately treachery is all too common in the Middle East, so common in fact that leaders here are often more valued for their duplicity and treachery than they are for their moral values and leadership talents.
However, Mayor Nir Barakat did run on a united Jerusalem under Israeli authority platform which included building for Jews throughout the city and has consistently maintained that position since his election.
Prime Minister Netanyahu as well has publicly and clearly stated his support of a Jerusalem united under Israeli authority and expressed just a few days ago his support of building for Jews throughout Jerusalem and his rejection of the Obama and Palestinian demands for freeze on that building.
Thus for me at least, until I am shown otherwise, I will continue to believe that both Barakat and Netanyahu are standing firm on continuing to build in all parts of Jerusalem.

THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THE ARABS IS THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF THE JEWISH STATE. ISLAM DOESN’T TOLERATE ANY RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN THE COUNTRIES OR REGIONS WHERE IT RULES. IN SAUDI ARABIA FOR EXAMPLE IS AGAINST THE LAW TO PROFESS THE CHRISTIAN OR JEWISH FAITH UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH. BY THE SAME TOKEN THEY HAVE DESTROYED THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN LEBANON,THE PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES, EGYPT (COPTS),IRAK, KURDS IN IRAK UNDER SADDAM HUSSEIN, ALL THE JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN ALL ARAB STATES EXCEPT MOROCCO, BAHAIS IN IRAN, ETC., ETC. NO MATTER WHAT ILL ADVISED CONCESSIONS ARE OFFERED BY ISRAEL THEIR ULTIMATE GOAL REMAINS THE SAME: THE TOTAL ERRADICATION OF THE JEWISH STATE.

Seriously, folks, you guys are going crazy over here. While you all focus on one specific country (Israel) , the POTUS and his generals must focus on complex clusters of nations. Obama and Gates have to consider Turkey and how its developing, because of logistical lines. The turks are really good in Afghanistan as well. Like it or not, islamic countries are here to stay, and we have to deal with them in a non-nuclear way. And if that means jerusalem under international police control and a NATO expedition force in the West Bank, so be it. I think thats Obamas endplan. And that is not a “we hate the jews” plan, its a “shut up already, y´all israelis while I fix Iraq”.

You sound almost as arrogantly sure of your lame “ideas” as Obama. Has it occurred to you that Israel has been thinking about the existential reality of Islamic countries a lot longer than you and, in general, has a far clearer understanding of what keeps the peace with them? You don’t have to hate the Jews to use them as a scapegoat for your own inadequacies.

Jerusalem is the centre of Jewish life and identity; if Israel gives it up, its enemies will not be sated but will know the enemy is now weak and ready for the kill.

In any case, Obama won’t get far in the Middle East because everyone can see he is both weak and arrogant. Americans need to start thinking seriously about their decline as a global power. You can no longer serve as the world’s policeman, guarantor for the imperialist fantasies of a transnational bureaucratic class, but must become more focussed on using the military to project power on those occasions when you need to punish your enemies. Arabs only hold you up for ridicule when you try to look tough by punishing your supposed friends. As does most of humanity. Get a clue.

The web definition of a protectorate is a state or territory having strong ties, with a stronger state, but autonomous in internal affairs. The protectorate receives financial, military and diplomatic support and in return surrenders some autonomy in its foreign affairs, to its dominant partner. Israel is a classic case of a difacto protectorate. And what occured this past week reinforces this perception. Israel folded in its avowed wishes to continue building in East Jerusalem, despite making statements to the contrary.Until we understand the true nature of this relationship, all complaints that Israel ought to take actions contrary to America’s wishes are is just words without any realistic substance attached. Of course Israel is free to sever this umbilical tie, but in fact choses not to.It continues to receive its usual stipend of some 3 billion U.S. and has not indicated that it will not be requesting future grants. Israel’s military dominance is a direct result of its strong American connection. If there should be a break in relations, it is very doubtful that the large gap between Israel’s military strength and that of its opponents will continue indefinitely. When you compare the demographic differences between Israel (7million) and its surrounding Arab neighbours (250-275 Million)any suggestion to adopt
” a go it alone policy”, is foolhardy to an extreme.